A Guide To Good Production Quality
Well production quality is important as it will influence that instant snap judgment that viewers make about a brand the second they start watching their company videos. When it comes to video marketing it’s essential that you cut straight to the chase in effectively representing your brand values right from the first few seconds of any video you produce.
Like it or not, we all form instant judgements about brands the second we encounter them and these opinions can be so strong that if we make a negative assumption it’s a very difficult task to change our mind. Such is the power of video.
However, get this right and you can gain the trust and enthusiasm of potential new customers right from their very first encounter with your brand.
Below is an example of various interview shots that we’ve produced over the years. The difference in what they communicate about the quality of the brands they represent is instantly apparent.
Many of the elements that boost the production quality of a promotional video are relatively unseen. Your viewers will probably not exclaim “that’s a beautiful dolly shot!” or “this interview has been wonderfully lit”.
However all these elements will be subconsciously perceived within the viewing experience, and will be key to what our general opinion of the brand represented is. It’s these subtleties that provoke an emotional response from the audience and therefore they are powerful factors on creating that all important first impression.
Remember that if you are maximising your reach with a promotional video then you’ll probably be uploading it to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter etc. When a viewer watches your video on these channels they will more than likely experience your brand with none of the other quality marketing collateral that would surround it on your own company website.
All the time and effort put into making your website a truly wonderful experience and brand ambassador is great for adding extra firepower to marketing items placed solely on your website, but lost when embracing the power of social media channels as these video sites won’t mirror the branding, messaging and design of your own site. Effectively your video has to be strong enough to be seen as a standalone element that can deliver your message isolation.
So making sure that your promotional video or corporate film champions your brand values and ideals is essential in allowing you the option of spreading its footprint as far as the web will allow.
Ensuring you produce a film with the highest production quality isn’t always directly related to video production costs. However budget does go a long way in providing the equipment and experience that this sometimes requires. There’s a common saying in the production industry that goes – You can produce video that’s good, fast or cheap but not all 3. This is mostly true but there are some ways to increase the quality of your company videos without needing a mortgage to pay for it.
So here’s some areas where companies can enhance the way they present their brand by maximising the production quality of the company videos they produce;
Crew
Finding a good Producer/Director is one of the most essential elements in realising great visuals and high quality production while keeping a lid on the budget. There’s no substitute for experience and a good pro will know exactly how to squeeze every penny’s worth of video production quality out of your budget.
Camera
Unfortunately this element comes down to cost. Using a higher end camera for your video marketing has obvious benefits and will create an instant impact on the visuals you distribute.
Lights
It shouldn’t cost the earth to make sure that any interview content you include in your video is nicely lit. You don’t need additional crew for this as any good cameraman should be able to light a simple talking head shot effectively themselves.
Sound
DO NOT cut corners on sound recording. This is the one aspect above everything else that if done badly can undo every other element within your video. What we hear when watching video content automatically over rides what we see so capturing beautiful images is pointless if your interviews sound like they’ve been recorded in a toilet!
Grip (moving camera shots)
This is one of the key factors in increasing the perceived production quality of your company videos. Using shots that gently track, jib or dolly is one of the most effective ways to elevate the general overall feel of a video to new heights and give it that Hollywood feel. Again it doesn’t cost the earth and many of the available options don’t require extra crew.
There will also be producers/directors out there who suggest that they can add the “wow factor” in post with some funky editing and graphics. However a general golden rule is that if you haven’t capture quality in camera (ie whilst on the shoot) then no amount of digital alchemy is going to lift the video further.
So our advice is always aim high, because if the quality of your company videos doesn’t match that of your customer’s expectations you may be doing your brand more damage than good.
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